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Opening Questions

Have you ever been so mad at someone that you just wanted to do something, anything to get them back?

Do you have any special things you do to calm yourself down when you are upset?

Can you forgive someone who never told you they were sorry?

Two things really jump out at me when I hear the story that Lexie and Karen read for …

Our first reading this week is very familiar to us as it is the second reading every year at the Easter Vigil.  The story of God calling Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, and go on a three-day journey to Moriah to “offer him there as a burnt offering” always stirs up a lot of questions in me.  For instance: At any time in those three days, did Abraham have second thoughts?  Did he ever think that this …

Well we’re coming up on New Year’s Day this week which means one thing for sure:  2020 will soon be in the rear view mirror.  Most years we would spend some time thinking back on the year that had passed and re-living the wonderful times we had and the friends and family we shared them with.  I am sure we will do the same this year, but the challenge will be how to fill the other 23 hours and …

I am going to start this morning by getting you all to think back to the time when you were preparing for your first reconciliation.  For some of us , it will be quite a while ago, and for others, perhaps it is fairly recently.  I know for me, it was so long ago that it wasn’t even called Reconciliation.  It was the Sacrament of Penance or Confession.

I remember being so nervous; also a little …

As I sit to write this, the date is October 19th and it has been 214 days since Premier Higgs declared a state of emergency and our province was, in effect, shut down.  In church world, there have been 31 Sundays come and go since we were last able to gather as an entire faith community, and not just the ones we could fit in and respect social distancing guidelines.  And now (as I write this) we are back …

Have you ever been invited somewhere that you really didn’t want to go?

My experience is that there are very few of us comfortable with just saying no to these invitations.  We feel we have to offer a plausible explanation as to why we can’t attend.  Come up with a believable excuse that will spare the inviter’s feelings.

This always brings back memories of asking girls out in high school.  I am still …

When I read the questions Jesus poses to the disciples in this week’s gospel, it reminds me of some of the formation I received in leading groups of faith.  One of the cardinal rules was to never put anyone on the spot.  Never make them feel so uncomfortable that they may consider not returning next week.  That’s why we would always preface a faith question with “there are no wrong answers“, which seemed to quell some of the fears …

I always like to imagine myself being in the group of
people Jesus is addressing when I read passages of Scripture like we see in
today’s Gospel.  We are told that Jesus
is speaking to his Apostles, a group who have come to know him pretty well and,
by this time, have grown somewhat accustomed to the challenges he places before
them.  Having said that, if I were tucked
away in the corner of the room listening, I would …

In the midst
of the strangest Easter season I have ever experienced comes the familiar story
of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. 
As I have mentioned before in these reflections, I have always viewed
biblical figures as ordinary folks (like you and me) who are witness to things
that are extra-ordinary.  Some are able
to see the significance of the moment immediately and others only in
hindsight.  As we meet the two disciples
walking and talking along …

As I read this week’s gospel and hear Jesus’ counter-cultural
instructions on how we should deal with the people God puts in our lives, I am
reminded of one the biggest influences in my spiritual journey, Fr. Peter
McKee.  When someone would ask him, “do you have a minute?” he would reply, “for
you, I’ve got two.”  What a
marvelous tone to set for the conversation to come.

Although this gospel comes up this year just …